


the pros and cons of haste

by alex_archer



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Buried Alive, Established Relationship, Kidnapping, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, PA!Rhys, Torture, Unhealthy Relationships, young!angel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-12 11:06:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5663938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alex_archer/pseuds/alex_archer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack and Rhys have been doing well, as well as possible for a Handsome Jack relationship. After a particularly bad fight, Rhys runs off in the middle of the night and gets himself kidnapped. Inspired by the current trend of kid Angel and PA Rhys. Will include smut as a separate work, if any shows up. I'll also be changing the ratings/warnings/tags as things enter the story!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> i can't write, but i wanted to write something for this fandom and pairing bc ugghhhhhhhhhhhh

“Jack, I didn’t think you had it in you for a night like this,” Rhys smiled and held his glass out for Jack to pour champagne into. Rhys laughed when Jack oversplit, inhaling sharply when Jack bent down to lick the dribble off his hand.

“What d’ya mean, cupcake?” Jack smiled and went to fill his own glass.

“I mean, this night has been perfect. First the candle lit dinner on the Skydeck, now champagne in front of the fire. If I were any other person on Helios, I might have thought you were wooing me,” Rhys took a slight sip only to receive a scoff from Jack.

“Any other person on Helios wouldn’t be here, Rhysie,” Jack lifted his glass slightly, tilting it to Rhys before drinking. Rhys felt his cheeks flush with heat. He’d never get used to this, not even after having dated Jack for a few months. “That’s cute, pumpkin! You’re blushing! Old Jack’s got you all hot and bothered, hasn’t he?” Jack reveled in the fact that Rhys couldn’t hold an emotion back if he tried.

“Shut up,” Rhys begrudgingly felt his blush go deeper.

“That’s alright, kitten, I was aiming for this the whole night!” Jack finally admitted. Rhys knew that this was the end goal, it always was with Jack. “I even got Gaige to watch Angel for the night!”

“You know, you need to get a better babysitter for your child than a teenager who cut her own arm off for science,” Rhys chuckled as he pointed out the painfully obvious.

“Yeah, but she _did_ do it for science. Here at Hyperion, that’s all we could want!” Jack grabbed his lapel and lifted his glass in a mockery of his own propaganda. He did this quite often, Rhys noticed, and he seemed not to buy into the propaganda too much. Jack usually preferred to show Hyperion’s might off with a demonstration of their wares, normally by shooting rivals and bandits in the face.

“Well Vaughn will be glad to get my two shower racks back, he’s been complaining our apartment is too small for two anyway,” Rhys assumed and drank a heavy gulp of his champagne while Jack choked on his.

“Woah, woah, Princess! I can’t have you bumming out my super cool bachelor pad, we never discussed you moving in,” Jack defended.

“You have a daughter, so your ‘super cool bachelor pad’ consists of leather furniture and robotic unicorn designs,” Rhys pointed out.

“I do have a daughter, and robot unicorns are _awesome_. What will she think if I brought an unwed man into my home as my concubine? What kind of example would that set for her, hmmm pumpkin?” Jack laughed at his supposed victory. “Haha! Check mate, kiddo!”

“Jack, you put loaded grenades into the mouths of people who look at you funny,” Rhys’ deadpan stopped Jack mid-laugh. Jack nodded and accepted the truth.

“Fine, but you can only have one shower rack, Daddy’s gotta have all his gel handy,” Jack winked at Rhys and the matter was settled.

“That’s disgusting,” Rhys commented, turning his head to hide both his blush and his smile. Finally, he’s moving in with Handsome Jack, it felt like a dream come true.

“What was that, kitten?” Jack asked, that dumb mischievous smile back on his smug face. He put his glass on the table and crawled across the couch towards Rhys. Immediately, Rhys started backing away. He knew what this meant, he knew exactly where this was going.

“No, Jack!” Jack ignored Rhys’ quick attempt to stop him. He leapt forward and dragged Rhys down to the floor with him. Jack’s fingers struck out to all the places he knew Rhys was most ticklish, relishing in the giggles erupting from the boy.

His hands and fingers stilling, Jack looked at Rhys’ face, his smile so intense. He never had these moments with someone before. All his previous relationships had been filled with fighting, jealousy, sex, make-up sex, and maybe some dates. The boy in front of him was so much more, and when Rhys’ eyes fluttered open, Jack nearly caught his own breath.

“What is it, Jack? You stopped,” Rhys’ smile stayed, and he waited for the answer.

“You, kid, are going to be the death of me,” Jack said before pressing his lips against Rhys’. The younger man froze for a moment before fervently following Jack, shoving even deeper into the kiss.

Jack’s hands once again travelled up and down Rhys’ torso, but this time his fingers were gentle. He laced the fingers on one hand in Rhys’s chestnut hair, gripping slightly. The other hand trailed down the man’s chest and around his waist, pulling Rhys closer. Rhys’ hands, however, were both cupped gingerly around Jack’s face, his fingers catching on Jack’s mask.

Jack paused and broke away, causing Rhys to groan, “What’s the matter?” Jack responded simply by lifting one hand to his mask. “Oh,” Rhys breathed lowly.

“‘Oh’ is right, kiddo. You’ve never seen the monstrosity behind the mask,” Jack could feel the words catching in the back of his throat before he said them. Rhys had seen the monstrous things Jack did, but when done by a pretty face, they can’t be all that bad, right? Jack knew, as soon as he took off this mask, Rhys would run. If he showed the boy what he truly looked like now, he’d lose the one good thing going for him.

“Jack, I don’t care about-” Rhys started.

“But you should care, Rhysie!” Just like that, Jack’s moment left. Had he done something else, he might have been able to stay like this, curled up with Rhys, forever. “You should care about what scars I’ve got, there’s a reason I’ve got them!”

“I know that, Jack, but-”

“But what, kiddo? But _nothing_ , that’s what,” Jack spoke as he used both hands to unclasp his mask, grimacing as the tension relaxed. He grabbed both sides of the fleshy cover and pulled, feeling his skin threaten to come with, the price he paid. He revealed a grimacing scar which started from his jawline and went up over his eye to the other side and back down again. The skin around it was dark and ruined, the actual scar tissue was pink and contrasting. His left eye, once green, was clouded and dead. Rhys couldn’t catch himself before he pulled away. The sudden shock was an involuntary reaction, and he immediately regretted it.

While still looking Rhys in the eyes, a chuckle rose in Jack’s chest. His heart lumped and his stomach churned, his fears were confirmed. “So that’s how it is, pretty boy. This is all me,” Jack motioned to his face while a toothy grin spread. Rhys continued backing away, and Jack found himself oddly enjoying it. This was what he’d expected would happen, it’s not his fault he expedited the process. Jack stood up, then, standing over Rhys. Jack reached and grabbed the pistol attached to the table’s underside, raising it to point at Rhys. Jack reveled in the terror spreading across the younger man’s face, loving the fear he brought out in him.

“Jack, tell me what’s wrong?” Rhys brought Jack back from his imagination, back to the moment on the floor. They were still curled up, and Jack was somewhat relieved he’d imagined it all.

“Nothing’s wrong, kiddo,” Jack smiled and returned his attention to Rhys, pressing himself against the boy once more. He still couldn’t shake the feeling of dread that this would all be ruined by him. But hey, live in the moment, right? That’s exactly what Jack was planning on doing.

* * *

 

“Daddy, do you think Rhys will be alright?” Angel spoke, not bothering to look up from the design she was working on. She sat at the counter island while Jack worked around in the kitchen.

“Of course, sweetie. Rhysie was just feeling a little run down,” Jack grabbed the pan off the stove and walked to Angel. Sliding a few pancakes on her plate, he smiled reassuringly. He knew the fight had been bad, but not enough that Rhys would leave in the middle of the night. Despite Jack’s attempts at reconciliation, Rhys still left him. Jack had woken up to Vaughn knocking at the door to collect Rhys’ things. Jack had run around the apartment, not wanting to wake Angel, while Vaughn pestered him to tell him about what had happened. According to him, Rhys showed up at Vaughn’s apartment early in the morning, completely plastered, refusing to even mutter anything about the fight. Rhys had simply commanded him to get his stuff, then had passed out on Vaughn’s couch.

“He didn’t even want to say your name or see you, he ripped down his favorite Hyperion poster. What did you _do_ to him?” Vaughn’s voice was pleading, yet protective. Jack would never understand how Rhys did it, but the tiny man would probably have fought Jack if he felt like Rhys was wronged.

“I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, chipmunk, promise,” Jack’s voice was a bit too forced, his mind still racing from the fact that Rhys didn’t want to see him. He’d gotten used to the way his own name fell off the boy’s tongue so easily.

“That’s what I’m worried about, Jack,” Vaughn stopped Jack mid step by placing a hand on the taller man’s chest. Jack looked down at the man’s hesitant touch and a familiar feeling rose in his stomach. Hips lips curled around his teeth and a growl pushed past.

“Don’t touch me,” Vaughn slowly pulled his hand back, the tension in the apartment built with every second.

“Jack, I-” Vaughn was interrupted by Jack yelling as he threw whatever was in his hand at the wall. A scream ripped out of Jack, one he’d been holding back since last night.

“Do you know who I _am_?! I am Handsome- fucking -Jack!” his shoulders grew and made his presence over the smaller man even more threatening. “Handsome Jack, kiddo! That’s me! And Handsome Jack does not get involved with little piss babies, yet here we are! I should’ve known this would happen, in fact I did, alright? I knew Rhys would turn out to be a sour little fart, but that didn’t stop me. Now look where we are! I’ve got to tell Angel he’s gone, and definitely won’t be coming back, I’ll make sure of that. Same goes for you, Pumpkin,” with the last sentence, Jack let his smile curve upwards, ever so slowly to reveal his menacing grin. This did the trick.

“I’m sorry Ja- H..Handsome Jack, sir,” Vaughn’s bravado was gone in the face of the ‘king’. Without taking his eyes off Jack, careful to watch for any sudden movements, Vaughn picked up what Jack had thrown and hastily ran from the apartment.

Now Jack was making pancakes for Angel, grateful she hadn’t heard his outburst and woken up. Never again would he complain about her goddamn ~~stupid~~ _lovely_ sleep music.

“Listen, sweetie, I know I haven’t been around much, but I need you to do something today,” Jack started, his voice low and kind.

“I’ll go stay with Gaige again, don’t worry. You’ve got to go find Rhys, right Daddy?” Angel’s question surprised him, he should’ve known she’d know what he was asking. Somehow, the girl always knew what he was thinking, most of the time he was afraid he was right.

“That’s it, baby girl,” he smiled and curled his arms around her shoulders from behind, giving a tight squeeze and pulling a giggle from Angel.

“You’re squishing me!” Angel joked and Jack pulled away in mock offense.

“Me? Squish you? Never!” Jack rushed forward then and his fingers shot out to tickle Angel, careful she didn’t fall off the stool giggling. That’s how the rest of their morning went, at least until Maya showed up to take Angel to Gaige’s lab, and until Jack got an echo call he really was not looking forward to.

* * *

 

The call was from a Hyperion official he’d gotten to oversee an operation down on Pandora, and he took the call while walking to his office. This wasn’t highly classified, just a routine bandit cleansing, but the call still should have been filtered through his office, not to his own personal echo. He’d have to talk to someone about that.

“Listen, idiot. I need that town wiped off that shithole planet yesterday, got it? If it doesn’t happen in the next thirty seconds, you’ll be relocated to the closest airlock, m’kay? Bye,” Jack ended the call and approached the door to his office. He stopped for a moment to notice Rhys wasn’t at his desk. Jack’s heart sank like a stone, he’d still been holding out that Rhys would be there. Even after all of the shit Jack’s done in the past, his PA has always shown up for work, bright and early with Jack’s coffee in hand. Instead, a woman sat at the boy’s desk. She was completely ordinary, typical Hyperion. She looked up at Jack and took a deep breath before he held his hand out to stop her, “Nah, nah, I don’t wanna hear it. Get me coffee, black as tar, and then get out, that seat is someone else’s.” He shouldn’t have been that rude, but he was Handsome Jack.

Jack finally made it into his office, walking the long carpet before nearly falling into his chair. The rush of dopamine did practically nothing on his mood, this wasn’t something he could fix without a heavy bottle of something strong and a tight squeeze. Jack leaned forward to press the button on his desk’s echo, about to ask the secretary to come on in for a bit.

“Don’t you dare, Jack,” the voice nearly made him jump out of his chair. His eyes darted to find the source, finally stopping on the female form lounging on his couch. His gaze registering another form, a man’s, standing behind her.

“God dammit, Maya,” Jack recovered and charged towards the Siren. “I told you both to warn me before you or Axton came up here.”

“We didn’t think it would matter this time, Jack,” the Commando spoke.

“And why’s that?” Jack asked.

“Because your PA is missing,” Maya admitted.

“I know, we had a fight. What is this really about?” Jack’s anger was slowly becoming worry. Maya wasn’t even supposed to be on Helios, why was she here with Axton?

“He left your apartment last night, Axton followed him to a bar. He apparently drank a few people’s worth of alcohol and then crashed at his friend’s apartment. Axton felt it alright to leave, then,” Maya shot the Commando a glance and he shrugged. “When Vaughn came to your apartment, he left Rhys at his, alone. Upon returning to an empty apartment, Vaughn called his friend Yvette,” Jack nodded, he knew her. She used to hackle lunches off Rhys before Jack knew them, apparently they were good friends. “He told her Rhys was missing, asked if she had seen him. She didn’t. Felicity caught this, because you’ve got that ridiculous stalker program on Rhys, and she scanned the station for his biometrics. He isn’t on Helios, Jack.”

The words sank into Jack, it all made sense, but it seemed so insane. Rhys had been alone for not even an hour, where could he have gone? Why is he gone? Why is Maya here?

“Maya, why are you here?” Jack’s stomach knotted, he had her planetside for a specific reason, and if that’s at all involved, he was going to kill a lot of people today.

“Vallory had people follow me, I was going to take care of it, but they aren’t on the station either,” Jack’s anger finally bubbled over, he let out a feral growl and flipped the coffee table over.

“If that bitch has anything to do with this, I swear! I’ll wipe out every filthy bandit camp and town anywhere near that fucking place. I’ll make Hollow Point a fucking crater,” Jack stomped to his desk and pulled up the echo.

“Gaige, you need to take Angel back to the apartment and stay there, Felicity will put it in lockdown,” Jack hung up and pulled his pistol, shooting the echo. He paused for a moment before turning and shooting everything he could. He screamed and let his rage go, destroying things with his own hands when the clip ran out.

“Felicity!” He yelled, panting in the middle of the destruction. “Get Wilhelm. We’re going to Pandora!”


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you're getting another update because i am trash and really wanted to post this one. i was going to include the first part with chapter one, but the rest just came to me and i am terrible.

Opening one eye, Rhys tried to find something- anything -in the darkness. His mechanical arm trailed upwards to the roof of whatever container he was in this time, however no mechanical arm came within sight.

“Shit…” Rhys frantically moved his flesh hand, grasping to feel the arm, only finding the barren metallic socket. His fingers touched cold metal, a spark let him know the arm hadn’t been removed properly. His echo eye and his cybernetic arm were both gone. So this was it, Rhys was going to die stranded somewhere on Pandora, stripped of parts. At least this time he couldn’t hear voices, the bastards probably left immediately after stealing his cybernetics.

“Anyone out there?” Rhys waited for a response. Once he deemed he’d waited long enough, Rhys fumbled about with his flesh hand, feeling around him for anything he could use to illuminate the space. As his hands traced along the bottom, he felt sand and wood. These  were incredibly common on Pandora, but the combo still gave him a weird feeling. The last few times he’d woken up in a container, they were metal. Usually, it was because they were moving him to another location, to avoid Hyperion tracking. In a few hours, he would be let out and tied to a chair. That’s when the fun stuff happened.

This time, however, Rhys could sense something was different. For one, they kept him alive for two weeks, why would they remove his cybernetics like they had. They must know how risky it was to do so, especially if it was some Pandoran salvager who did it.

All these realizations made Rhys feel around more frantically. He began to press on the roof of the crate as hard as he could. He pushed, feeling the wood bend beneath his hand slightly. Pulling back, Rhys adjusted so that he was pushing with his hand and his knees. Gangly as he was, he had the perfect leverage to push at the top. He forced the wood until he heard a sharp crack and sand began to steadily flood in by his hips. He knew it was sand because he felt the heat even through his clothing.

Rhys immediately pulled back. He began to undo the buttons on his vest. Somehow, he understood suddenly. He knew what situation he was in, and he needed to address the current threat. It wasn’t until he’d plugged the crack with fabric that he admitted it to himself. There’s a 99.9% chance he was currently buried alive in the Pandoran sand. His fears were confirmed when a light flickered on down by his feet and a voice filled his stomach with dread.

_ “Rhys- *static* -hang in there. We’re- *static* -find you.” _

* * *

 

Rhys spat a mixture of blood and saliva before answering, “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about! I don’t even know you!”

“Come on, kid,” the woman in front of him had a raspy voice, and she was absolutely terrifying. Her face was scarred, her left eye completely glassed over. “You can’t expect me to believe a boy who’s gotten as close to Jackie as you have doesn’t know who I am,” The sentence came with a blow to Rhys’ gut, Vallory used the fist that she wore the brass knuckles on. How kind.

Sputtering, Rhys scrambled to catch his breath again. He felt his entire body sagging and pulling on his arms, which were restrained behind him. At least he wasn’t hanging, the stress that would put on his cybernetics would be horrible. Not to mention, the searing pain that would also come out of that.

“I’m just his PA, I do his filing,” Rhys’ voice was pleading, he needed her to believe him otherwise this would get a hell of a lot worse. Jack had taught him some of the aspects of holding up during torture, but luckily Rhys had never practised.

“You know we both know that’s a lie. Don’t make me get August back in here,” Rhys’ side twinged with pain at the thought of August. The woman’s son had definitely inherited her kind touch, and he had far more umph behind his punches. Where the woman used tools, August just used strength. It scared Rhys to think of what might happen if he came back in. “You know August’s girlfriend just left him, and he’s got a few things to work out.”

“Please, Vallory, I don’t know  _ anything _ !” at that, Vallory just laughed.

“I’m not the kind to waste my valuable time on those who don’t know anything. I know you know something, Rhysie,” the nickname sounded wrong on her tongue, vicious and sour. “Just tell me why your big bad boss sent someone to kill me. Tell me, and I’ll bring you back to him. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

“Go to hell,” Rhys answered, daring to smile slightly. In return, he received a nice hard punch to his face, again, with the brass knuckles. He felt the bone under them crack, and a searing pain was sent upwards from his nose. “Aghhhh! What the fuck?” Rhys growled, his eyes closed to fight back the tears. “If you break my jaw, I can’t tell you anything!”

“Oh, no, sweetie. If we break your jaw, you’ll still tell us everything. We know how to do our jobs, and we do them well. Now, why does Handsome Jack want me dead? We had an agreement, him and I,” Vallory crouched down and drove a small blade into Rhys’ knee, forcing him to open his eyes and scream. He hung his head and regained his breathing, feeling her calloused fingers lifting his chin to face her.

“He doesn’t tell me… everything,” Rhys admitted.

“See? Now we’re getting somewhere,” Vallory smiled and sent a shiver down Rhys’ spine. She rubbed his cheek with her thumb and chuckled. “August! Come on in here!” She called, forcing Rhys to plead no. The door opened and a young man stepped through, a rifle leaning against his shoulder.

“Yea, ma?” August spoke, his voice was low and he barely seemed phased by anything.

“Rhys has decided he would tell us a few things, but he only started when I got mean, you know how I hate being mean to guests,” August took a deep breath and groaned, Rhys thought he saw the man roll his eyes.

“Yes, ma’am,” August answered, placing his rifle on the table next to him.

“Good, you’ll teach him to have proper manners, won’t you? Then we’ll beat those answers out of him,” Vallory’s smile tilted even further, a feat Rhys didn’t think was possible.

“Yes, mom,” August answered, waiting for Vallory to get up.

She paused at the door, however, and addressed August before leaving, “And make sure this time he’s looking at the camera, son.” With that, she was gone. And Rhys’ heart raced as he looked in the direction she had pointed. Not too far off was a small red dot, blinking away on the wall. He hadn’t given it much notice, but now he knew. Why the hell were they filming him, what could they get out of this? Almost as though he could read Rhys’ mind, August answered him.

“That’s being recorded and sent to Jack at the end of this, to prove we haven’t killed you yet,”  _ yet. _ That’s the thing that stuck in his mind. He didn’t believe Vallory would give him back to Jack, but he also was hoping he wouldn’t die. Foolish dreams, this was Pandora after all. “Maybe he’ll reward you, build a statue or destroy a town in your name. You did hold out on us for nearly an entire two days! That’s impressive, kiddo,” again, the nicknames all just sounded wrong now.

“Two days?” it felt like an eternity. Did Jack even know he was gone? Why should he even care? Rhys had left him, sitting on the bed, not even a goodbye. It’s true, the fight was terrible, and Rhys had been dramatic, but it wasn’t something they couldn’t come back from. Even on the worst of fights, Rhys always came back. Did Jack think he hated him?

What about Vaughn? Rhys had just shown up, smashed as can be, and crashed on his couch. Rhys forced Vaughn to face Jack, and then Rhys just left the apartment. Where he was even going was beyond him, he had still been drunk at that point. Lumbering down the hallways of Helios, wandering wherever, Rhys had come across two men lurking around a corner. With a hiccup, Rhys asked who they were, “What’s on your- hic -head?” Or at least he tried to ask them.

The man he had addressed slowly turned to look at him, staring Rhys down through some very cool shades. “Excuse me?” When he spoke, he got the attention of his partner.

“Quiet, Finch, she’ll hear us,” the other man spoke, pulling the one named Finch back down. He never even looked at Rhys.

“I said… Whass on your head?” Rhys smiled, his drunken mind intrigued. This brought the attention of both men back towards him.

“Hey, Kroger, I think he’s asking about my hair,” Finch spoke, reaching for the pistol at his side.

“Shut it, man. Just ignore the kid, he’s just a drunk Hyperion idiot who doesn’t know how to pick fights,” was that what Rhys was doing?

“Hey! I’m no ordinary Hy- hic -perion guy! I’m Handsome Jack’s fucking PA!” Rhys boasted, stepping forward to shake a fist at the men. Both men, turned to look at each other.

“You know, we’ve got a better chance nabbing Jack’s boytoy than we do with a Siren,” Kroger made a good point, Rhys had to agree with him.

“And he’s  _ got _ to know everything about Jack,” Finch continued. Both men were now looking at Rhys, slowly stepping towards the boy.

“Why doncha just take me?” Rhys slurred, what had he been thinking?

“I think we will,” Kroger closed the gap between him and Rhys, shooting his fist out quickly. The blunt of his pistol hit Rhys square in his forehead, knocking him out instantly. Almost on cue, another blow hit Rhys in similar spot as August’s pistol whipped him across the head, jolting Rhys out of the memory.

“And she didn’t even love me! She was just using me the whole time!” another blow landed on Rhys’ face, from August's other hand. It was just unfair that August could use both hands just as well as the other.

“I’m sorry, bro,” Rhys managed to get the short sentence out before his breath got knocked out of him. Again.

“I’m a conman, I know when I’m being lied to! How’d she do it?” August paused then, as though waiting for Rhys to answer.

“Uh, I don’t know. I understand, though? I just went through a breakup too,” Rhys admitted, looking at August through his echo eye, his other eye had swollen shut.

“Aw, man. That sucks,” August moved suddenly, causing Rhys to flinch, but he grabbed a chair and swung it towards Rhys. August grabbed a bottle off the table and took a long swig. “What happened?” Was this happening? Did he just ask Rhys to tell him about his breakup?

“I- uh, broke up with Jack,” Rhys’ voice made it sound like a question, but August just nodded for him to continue. “We had a bad fight, and he told me I was an inevitable liability, so I left. He was right, as we both know, and I should’ve stayed,” Rhys found the words coming forth smoothly. “Instead, I went and got drunk. I crashed at my old apartment and sent my best friend to get my shit from Jack’s.”

“Aw, man. You lived with him? That must’ve been-” August took a swig, “that must’ve been hard.”

“It wasn’t. His place was amazing, and he was amazing. His daughter loved me and-” as soon as he said it, Rhys shut his mouth, hoping August hadn’t caught it. Looking at the man, it seemed his luck was with him. August sat there, waiting for the next bit. Behind him, however, the door slammed open and Vallory came storming back in. She grabbed August’s shoulder and pulled him up to face her.

“You idiot! I sent you in here to rough him up, not talk about your love life,” she flung August back towards the door before looking back at Rhys. The chill and tension was back in the room again and Vallory leaned down.

“Jack’s daughter?” she asked.

“No! It’s a girl, she’s like his daughter! He’s not her-” Rhys shut up as Vallory twisted the knife still in his knee. He let out a scream and involuntarily looked at the camera, pleaded silently for Jack to understand he didn’t mean to.

“What is her name?” Vallory implored. She got close to Rhys, making it so that she was the only thing he could see. Her breath was hot, and smelled of alcohol and iron.

“She’s not important, he doesn’t care about her,” Rhys tried to fight. Vallory could tell, though, that there was more to what he was saying. She was not about to drop this, and so she pulled the knife from his knee, causing Rhys to suck in air sharply. He saw the blood flow increase and felt the heat rolling down his calf, over the already dried blood from before.

“Now, that can’t be true. He keeps her locked up and secret, doesn’t he? What’s her name?” Vallory accompanied the last question by thrusting the blade deep into Rhys’ side. He called out in pain, trying to double over and prevent her from doing anything else. “Don’t worry, I didn’t hit any vital organs. I can, if you’d like, or did you want to tell me the name instead?”

“Fuck… you,” Rhys retorted, where the courage came from, he didn’t know.

“Very well,” Vallory muttered, pulling the knife back out of Rhys. She stood and addressed the guard standing at the door. “Bandage him up, I want him ready for tomorrow. Send that tape to Helios, I want Jack to see it.”

“Of course, boss. You want us to cut out the bit with the kid?” The guard asked.

“No, leave it, I want him to know that we know,” Vallory smirked and left, followed by the guard and August. When the door closed, Rhys let out a sob. He betrayed him, and Jack would know. This wasn’t something Rhys could see Jack forgiving. Rhys was as good as dead. If Vallory didn’t kill him, Jack would.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short filler chapter while I finish up the next one. I'm so sorry for not updating, things happened in my life. Ugh, things are the worst.

“It’s been two days, Jack,” Axton was the first to speak the truth, he wasn’t as afraid of it.

“We still don’t know who’s behind Rhys’ disappearance,” Maya continued where Axton left off.

“We know who it goddamn is. It’s that bitch, Vallory,” Jack slammed his fists on the desk, so hard that everything jumped about an inch. “If this is her way of paying me back for that little assassin. Oh, ho… I thought we were beyond this, that assassin was low level! It was practically a joke, or a gift!” While Jack was speaking, the door to his office hissed open, closing quickly behind a woman in standard Hyperion clothing.

“Handsome Jack, sir?” a small woman stood at the base of the stairs, terrified to approach his desk or interrupt his meeting. Maya and Axton turned to face the voice, Jack leaned forward to see as well. His eyebrow rose, and his expression was terrifying.

“I thought I told Felicity to not let anyone in!” He yelled, making the tiny Hyperion worker jump.

“Yes, sir. You did, sir. This came over your echo, sir,” The woman frantically scrambled up the stairs, placing another echo device on his desk and then running out of the office.

“Jack, she wanted to help,” Maya spoke first, breaking the silence. Axton’s eyes were focused on the device that lay in front of him.

“Fuck, I know. But it’s not people like her that will get Rhys back!” Jack defended himself, reaching to pick up the echo.

A voice tuned into the room, “I must warn you, Jack, that was delivered to your personal quarters”

Jack looked up, his face flush with anger once more. Who the hell would send an ECHO to his loft at a time like this? Then he realized, “Rhys…”

“The message  _ was _ encoded with Rhys’ Hyperion ID,” Felicity confirmed Jack’s fears. Rhys had sent this message, whatever it was, and he’d sent it to Jack.

“Play it,” Jack commanded.

* * *

 

Running faster than he had in his entire life, Jack made his way through Hyperion, pushing past stunned employees and guards alike. Not even bothering with the elevator, he ran down the several flights of stairs to his loft.

“Felicity, override code HJ-69! Open the door!” He shouted, coming up on his apartment. The door thudded and clicked as several locks were undone. Stepping through, Jack impatiently ducked in. His eyes scanned the open room, his attention drawn to the two figures on the couch. Running over to them, he immediately began to run his hands over the younger, checking for any injuries or the like.

“Daddy, what are you doing?” Angel half smiled.

“You’re all right?” Jack asked, letting out a breath of relief. He turned slightly towards Gaige, “You’re both okay?” Gaige nodded in answer and Jack turned back towards a very confused Angel.

“I’m fine, Daddy. What’s wrong? Is this about Rhys being gone?” Angel asked.

“Rhys isn’t gone, princess,” Jack started, his voice catching in the back of his throat.

“It’s okay, Gaige told me he’s lost. It’s going to be alright, we’re working on a way to find him!” Angel perked up, and Jack notice the ECHO device in her lap for the first time. “Rhys’ arm is made by you, so you can find him! Gaige and I have been working on this since the scary lady sent that message.”

“Scary lady? What scary lady?” Jack questioned.

“The lady with the scars,” Angel answered.

Jack sucked in his breath and felt even more rage build up, but he kept his voice calm and eerily serene. “Listen, Angel sweetie, you need to stop whatever it is you and Gaige are doing here,” Jack motioned to both the girls. “You- You aren’t safe. If anyone found out about where you are, if anyone followed your code…” Jack looked down at his hands, at Angel’s much smaller one in his grip. If Vallory was able to use Rhys’ code, she had access to too much. Jack had given Rhys access to his office, all of Helios, and most importantly the loft. Vallory could get in anywhere.

His attention was raised by tiny fingers lifting his chin. His mismatched eyes met Angel’s piercing blue ones, “Daddy, Rhys is in trouble. He needs his heroes, and that’s not just you. He needs Gaige and I to be heroes too.”

Jack’s smile came back, his chest filling with a warmth only she could give. How did she end up so kind, so loving… She sure as hell didn’t learn it from him. One thing for sure, though, he wasn’t going to deny her help. She was right, Rhys needed all of them. Angel was brilliant with code, and Gaige was a genius mechanic. If they were to have any chance to save Rhys, Angel was right, they all needed to work together.

“One condition, sweetheart, you don’t use your signature when writing the code. If the bad guys who have Rhys follow the code back to us, I don’t want them knowing you exist. Can you do that?” Jack offered the compromise, knowing Angel would be able to reformat her coding easily.

“Of course, Daddy!” Angel smiled widely and threw her arms around Jack’s neck. “We’re going to find Rhys! We’ll be heroes!”

* * *

 

“Angel, can you go over those lines of code once more? Gaige, you recalibrated that device, right?” Jack spoke, not bothering to look up from the screen he was working on. Several hundred lines of code were scanning across, each minutely different than the others. Gaige and Angel both confirmed at the same time, reassuring Jack for the millionth time.

The Mechromancer sat at their dining room table, a million wires and parts strewn around her. She had her welder’s shield over her face and was working on tucking a few components into a small compartment on an even smaller object. Angel was seated in her usual spot at the kitchen counter, next to Jack. Both of them had digi-monitors lit up before them. Looking at their faces of concentration now, you immediately knew they were father and daughter. Angel typed away, writing at what seemed like an impossible speed, especially for a ten year old. Jack looked between his screen and Angel’s, checking both for errors. He continued to type away at his, he hadn’t multitasked this hard since he wrote some of the Hyperion starter codes.

There was an increased sense of urgency in the loft, and a sense of dread. Jack had explained to Angel what he was planning on doing, and she immediately echoed Gaige to get her on board. He always knew how lucky he was to have Angel, and it’s times like these he realizes Rhys is lucky as well. This kid cared about Rhys, and her fervent work showed. When they got Rhys back, Jack made a point to let him know it was Angel who saved him.

“Jack can you come here for a sec? I need you to check out the thingy,” Gaige called, pushing the welding mask back up. She held out a small black object, making sure to cradle it with both hands. The object itself was no larger than an egg, but flatter and more round. It was connected by wires to the echo device and a few other things scattered on her workbench.

“It it ready for the code?” Jack was anxious.

“I think it just might be! My freshman shop teach would be jealous of my skills,” Gaige’s smile was forced, trying to keep a light air in the room. “Are you sure this will work?” She spoke more quietly now, careful to not worry Angel.

“I- I don’t know,” Jack’s honestly surprised him. No matter how hard he tried to stay positive, there was a nagging feeling inside that prevented him from completely buying into hope. “How do we even know his systems are still online? They could have shut him down, it’s what I would do. They could have-” Jack’s voice cracked. He didn’t want to say it, Rhys didn’t like when his arm was disconnected. What must it be like for his entire port to be- Jack shuddered, doing his best to cut that train of thought.

“Listen, Angel and I have been sending untraceable relay signals to Rhys’ arm. You know, Angel has this code she can apply that basically lets us do whatever we want, she’s really brilliant. Anyway, every single signal we’ve sent out pinged back to us, except one,” Jack’s heart raced, terrified she’d say the most recent hadn’t returned. “The first one we sent didn’t come back, but that kid fixed the problem right away. Rhys’ arm is still online and connected to his ECHO system. When we activate this device, we’ll be given complete remote access to everything, his biological and cybernetic systems. It’ll be like we have a little Rhys letting us into Rhys’ head, and Vallory won’t be able to stop us.”

During Gaige’s explanation, Angel had quietly slipped off her stool and walked over towards them. She stood near Jack, looking up at him the entire time. As soon as Gaige stopped talking, Angel put her hand in Jack’s, forcing him to let his fist uncurl. He looked down at her, expecting a reassuring smile, she’d stayed so strong these past few days. However, when he laid eyes on her, he was only met with a worried expression. “Daddy, there is one problem. Rhys’ biointegration will fight the code, his physical body won’t accept the changes as well as his cybernetics will. There’s only two ways to fix that,” Angel explained. Jack knew where this was going, and he didn’t like it. Shaking his head, he knelt down to her level and put his hands on her shoulders. “We have to do a hard reset or I have to-” Jack stopped her there.

“You can’t, sweetie. We made an agreement, you were not to use your code and you can’t let them know about you. If you connected with Rhys’ system…” Jack found himself trailing off. He looked at Angel, her blue eyes wide with concern.

“Daddy, I can do this. I have to do this. I have to help Rhys, I love him,” Jack felt his heart sink, he knew this was the only way. Angel had to use her Siren powers, or Rhys would die.

“I love him too, baby. We’ll do it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Remember; Kudos, Comments, Bookmarks... They all keep me going! <3
> 
> find me over on tumblr at either connortemple.tumblr.com or hawketrash.tumblr.com


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